Tony Stark (in_extremis) wrote in oh_marvelous, @ 2011-11-21 13:47:00 |
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Careen
Characters: Stark Enterprises, Hammer Industries and OTA
Setting: Budapest, International Motor Vehicles Symposium and Exhibition
Content: Glaring.
Summary: It's hard enough seeing Hammer's smug face at events and now he's getting to be a real competitor.
As much as he appreciated the hospitality of the West Coast Avengers and the familiarity of the Malibu compound, being a guest of theirs was exhausting. And not only because Clint could pick a fight about anything and Jan had an endless store of wild energy and Wanda kept stealing his clothes and Pietro was infuriatingly needy and inattentive. Jesus, all lined up like that Tony wondered how he wasn't more grey. In contrast, he missed the level-headed reliability of Pepper and Happy and how everything went so much smoother with their ready support, even if Tony didn't entirely deserve it, but he lifted his chin purposefully when he met them on the runway in New York and only admitted the relief at seeing them in a friendly squeeze of Happy's arm. Then he said, "I have Ai and her partners cued up and waiting...," as he wafted back into the jet to take his meeting with Pepper. Mostly, and Tony only fully realized it when he watched the door shut behind Pepper after they had landed and checked into the hotel in Budapest, he had been on full power since he left New York three weeks ago and, alone in the latest beige, malleable and non-threatening hotel room of his long life of beige hotel rooms, this was the first time he dropped his shoulders and sighed. He stayed in the entrance a moment longer, sliding his travel-worn jacket from his arms slowly as attempted to compose a justifiable text to Steve. Nothing really seemed important enough. Tony let his jacket drip to the floor and shuffled toward the bathroom. It was just one more week before he could go home and recharge.
"...of course, that's up to marketing," the speaker was saying with a sly smile. The room rumbled with a polite laugh that Tony didn't join, focused instead on the cue cards in Pepper's hands that she refused to let him have. She was barely listening to his incredibly valid points, murmured under his breath, on what statements were a waste of time and how completely boring it was going to be and could she please let him see the next one if she didn't mind. Not that it mattered; no one else was saying anything new and this wasn't shaping up to be the 'educational experience' that Pepper had insisted it would.
"Can't I just come back for the party and do some mingling--" he tried, but knew enough to press his lips together and shake his head in tandem with hers. That was the money here, not listening to speeches on global resource initiatives, but they were still shaking their heads. "I'll just be down on the floor," Tony tried again, a little too loud this time as his voice pitched dangerously close to a whine and the man on the other side of Pepper shot him a sidelong look. "Great," Tony said for Pepper as she finally sucked in a breath to say something to him, knowing that it was going to be a hushed scolding and bypassing all that work for her. "Later," he said with a final pat to her arm before darting out of his seat and out of earshot. Happy would be down by the car on the exhibition floor and would be far more conversational, if he hadn't already worn himself out with the models showing off the merchandise. Pepper could totally handle giving Tony's lecture.